


Reste Ici, Ne Me Quitte Mas - Stay Here, Don't Leave Me

by xsavannahlynnex



Category: Interview With the Vampire (1994), Vampire Chronicles - Anne Rice, Vampires - Fandom
Genre: Fluff, Gay, M/M, Mention of god, New Orleans, Running Away, gentle on my heart, lestat is uncertain, old timey, reference to religion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 04:31:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13967388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xsavannahlynnex/pseuds/xsavannahlynnex
Summary: Lestat isn't his usual self and Louis tries to pry but it only ends in Lestat going missing. Louis sets out to find him and what he finds is not what he expected.





	Reste Ici, Ne Me Quitte Mas - Stay Here, Don't Leave Me

Although it was springtime and the sun was intoxicatingly bright during the day and crisp at night, Lestat seemed ever gloomy still. For a reason Louis could not put his finger on, Lestat seemed out of character. His voice lacked the exuberant echo around the house it usually carried and his usual antics were quiet. Louis had decided not to poke and prod on the issue, fearing that Lestat would spiral out of control as he had before when pestered. Sometimes he just wanted to sulk and not have to explain his actions, quite childish for a man as old as he was. But this was different. There was certain emptiness behind his crystal blue eyes that were once so radiant and mesmerizing. The two were sitting in the parlor; Lestat’s hands idle on the piano keys as Louis had his nose buried in a novel. He could sense frustration in the way the vampire’s slender fingers hit the piano keys. It was not passion but anger behind each stroke. This continued on for quite some time as the piano ebbed away the tension. After he finished the abuse on the keys, Louis looked up from the ivory pages to meet Lestat’s eyes.

“Lestat, what is going on?” He set the book down in his lap, looking over at the mans’ disheveled appearance. Lestat’s fingers struck the white keys once again, letting the tune fade out on its own.

“Nothing, my sweetest Louis.” His lips held a tight smile that lacked sincerity.

“Lestat, I have known you for over a century, please do not mistake my intelligence. You haven’t been yourself the past few days and I didn’t want to pester you, but now you are worrying me.” Genuine concern hid behind emerald eyes.

“Louis, do not fret. You do look cuter when you aren’t frowning all the time,” Lestat mumbled as he mindlessly played one of Beethoven’s sonatas. Louis sat still, frustrated with the response he was getting, especially since he knew it couldn’t be further from the truth.

“If something was wrong, you would come to me, yes?” Louis looked hopeful but didn’t let it show for fear of Lestat rejecting being so open and vulnerable.

“Yes, dear.” There was nothing exchanged between the two after that and Louis didn’t want to drive Lestat further away and let the subject drop. As dawn approached, they both retired to their coffins and went into the dark sleep.

The next evening when Louis awoke, the house was still silent, although that was quite normal when he often woke before Lestat. The brunette walked over to the oak coffin and to his surprise when he opened it, Lestat was gone. A tang of panic shot through him and he quickly toured the house to see if his partner was occupied. Lestat was no where in the manor and Louis paced back and forth in the foyer before deciding he would wait it out and see if Lestat had gone for a bite earlier in the evening. As much as he tried to distract himself, there was a feeling in his stomach that told him to go look for Lestat. When a few hours had passed, he concluded Lestat was probably not coming back willingly and he would go find him.

-

New Orleans in the evening was one of the most beautiful sights. The sky had darkened enough to see the gas lamps light up the streets, crowded with busy people going who knows where. It was a new era of people; ones who went out at all times of the day and sought out all sorts of entertainment. The sound of the vampire’s heels clicked against the cobblestone, following him into the city. Lestat enjoyed the city at night like this, full of the very life he did not have. He could be anywhere by now, and Louis was at a loss for where to even begin. He started off by questioning the bartenders at the pubs and women that frequented them but no one had seen the blonde that night. Louis roamed for what seemed like hours, checking places the two had visited often like ruins of old cities that blurred into New Orleans but it had been no use. The one place Louis could turn to at this point was the church.

The church was ancient, its ivory pillars supporting a sloped roof with intricate details that Louis’ vampire eyes had traced over and over when he had first seen it. The double doors to the entrance were wooden and carved masterfully into an arch. He pushed the door with a soft creak as it grazed against the marbled floor and shut it behind him. Rays of moonlight shone through the cracks in the ceiling and he knelt in front of the omnipresent statue.

“ _Mon dieu*_ , I do not even know why I have come here, but I am in need of guidance.” Louis’ words echoed inaudibly across the room. “I have come because I do not know where to go. I feel lost, in many ways. _Mon amour*_ , Lestat, has gone to a place I cannot find him and yet I cannot say he wants to be found.” The brunette hung his head before another set of footsteps alerted to the man behind him.

“Louis? By god, what are you doing here?”

“ _Quelle*_? Lestat! I could ask you the same.” Louis shot up to his feet and came towards Lestat who took a step back when offered an embrace.

“I – I do not know. You come here, do you not? I followed you one night when we did not speak. I found you here, talking to him-“ Lestat mentioned towards the statue, “and I wondered, ‘ _pourquoi*_?’” His face fell, eyes searching for something to hold onto. “Do you not believe we are damned for eternity?”

“I come here because I still believe. I believe that we are not truly monsters. That maybe he will still take us in after all that we have done.” Louis paused for a moment, guilt behind his eyes. “After the people that we have killed, innocent lives we have taken. It is sometimes the only thought that allows me to go on, or else…” He didn’t finish his thought but he didn’t need to, Lestat understood. Lestat walked past Louis and set his hand on the statue, slender fingers tracing every curve.

“ _Reste ici.*_ ” The words barely left Lestat’s lips.

“Lestat, what are you-“

“ _Reste ici, ne me quitte pas*_ ,” Lestat said again and turned to look at his lover, blood tears welling in his eyes.

“I would never leave you, Lestat,” Louis spoke. He was at Lestat’s side in an instant and wiped away the trail of blood with his thumb. “Why would you think that?”

“Because I made you like this. Like a monster, make you question God and damnation. You never were made for a life like this. This isn’t a life for you.” Lestat searched Louis’ eyes before closing his own. “And I’m scared that you will see that and you will leave me. Leave this whole place.”

Louis embraced Lestat, letting his head rest atop the blonde’s. “You are my life, Lestat. And I couldn’t ever leave you.” He felt the man sigh into his chest, arms lacing around him.

“I do not know what I would do if I lost another – if I lost my love.”

Louis knew what he had meant by another, as quickly as the slip had been. The memory of Nicholas always seemed fresh in Lestat’s mind.

“I am not leaving you Lestat.” The arms around his waist tightened, and he knew what Lestat said in the silence. As much of a pain Lestat could be at times, Louis felt like only he knew this part of Lestat. The part that made him happy, the part that opened up what he was like behind the sarcasm and seduction. Maybe the man he had once been a long time ago. You do things for love you did not understand, but Louis knew that. And he knew he would stay with Lestat, no matter what it took.

**Author's Note:**

> Mon Dieu - my god  
> Mon Amour - my love  
> Quelle - what  
> Pourquoi - why  
> Reste ici - stay here  
> Reste ici, ne me quitte pas - stay here, don't leave me 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this! Feel free to leave kudos/comments and let me know if you would like anymore Lestat/Louis or Vampire Chronicles fan fiction in the future!


End file.
